User:Skrapion/Firefly

Firefly (2002–2003) is a science-fictiontelevision series, written by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear, about crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity and their adventures as they try to get by as independents in a culture of conformity enforced by a peaceful but uncaring Alliance government. Its unique retro-Western interplanetary setting, in Whedon's words, combines the past and the future in a way that feels like the present.

Jayne: Can't get paid if you crawl away like a bitty little bug neither. I got a share of this job! Ten percent of nothin' is — let me do the math here — [makes scribbling motions in the air] nothin' into nothin', carry the…

. . .

Jayne: I didn't sign onto this crew ta take in the sights. We need coin!

Mal: Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character, so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.

Book: I've been out of the abbey two days, I've beaten a lawman senseless, I've fallen in with criminals. I watched the captain shoot the man I swore to protect. And I'm not even sure if I think he was wrong.

Mal: Now this is all the money Niska gave us in advance. You bring it back to him, tell him the job didn't work out.

[Henchman Crow spits.]

Mal: We're not thieves. [pauses] Well, we are thieves. Point is, we're not takin' what's his. Now, we'll stay out of his way as best we can from here on in. You explain that that's best for everyone, okay?

[Crow defiantly stands with his arms bound behind him.]

Crow: Keep the money. Use it to buy a funeral. It doesn't matter where you go, or how far you fly. I will hunt you down, and the last thing you see will be my blade.

Mal: Darn.

[Mal kicks Crow toward the engine; Crow is sucked into the intake. Cut to Zoë bringing a second bound henchman before Mal.]

Mal: Now this is all the money Niska gave us in advance…

Henchman: [quickly] Oh, I get it. I'm good. Best thing for everyone. I'm right there with you.

Harken: Is there any particular reason you don't wish to discuss your marriage?

Zoë: Don't see that it's any of your business, is all. We're very private people.

[Cut to Zoë's husband, Wash.]

Wash: The legs! [laughs] Oh yeah, [I] definitely have to say it was her legs. You can put that down. Her legs, and right where her legs… meet her back. Tha— actually, that whole area. That, and… and above it. […] Have you seen what she wears? Forget about it. Have you ever been with a warrior woman?

Mal: The darkness. Kind of darkness you can't even imagine. Blacker than the space it moves through.

Harken: Very poetic.

Mal: They made him watch. He probably tried to turn away, and they wouldn't let him. You call him a survivor? He's not. A man comes up against that kind of will, the only way to deal with it, I suspect, is to become it.

[In the present day, River is violently refusing to cooperate with Simon's diagnostic tests.]

Mal: So, she's added cussing and hurling-about of things to her repertoire. She really is a prodigy.

Simon: It's just a bad day.

Mal: No, a bad day is when someone's yellin' spooks the cattle. Understand? You ever see cattle stampede when they got no place to run? It's kind of like a… a meat grinder. And it'll lose us half the herd.

Simon: She hasn't gone anywhere near the cattle.

Mal: No, but in case you hadn't noticed, her voice kinda carries. We're two miles above ground and they can probably hear her down there. Soon as we unload, she can holler until our ears bleed — although I would take it as a kindness if she didn't.

River: [muttering] The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems.

Mal: See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like.

Simon: It's fun, being forced to the ass-end of the galaxy. To get to live on a piece of luh-suh wreck. And we eat molded protein! And be bullied around by our pyen juh duh jiou cha[o] w[r]en of a captain. That's fun.

[Simon pleads with the hill folk, who have tied River to a stake, preparing to burn her.]

Simon: She has done nothing to you! If she dies tonight, it won't be God's will that killed her! It'll be you! Your lunacy, your… ignorance!

. . .

[Unable to free his sister, Simon climbs onto the pyre and holds River.]

Simon: Light it.

River: Time to go.

[A blast of wind signals the arrival of Serenity. Jayne cocks a shotgun from the cargo hold while Mal and Zoë approach on foot.]

Mal: Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?

Zoë: Big damn heroes, sir.

Mal: Ain't we just?

. . .

Patron: This is a holy cleansing. You cannot think to thwart God's will.

Mal: Y'all see the man hanging out of the spaceship with the really big gun? I'm not saying you weren't easy to find. It was kinda out of our way, and he didn't want to come in the first place. Man's lookin' to kill some folk. So really it's his will y'all should worry about thwarting.

Bandit: You gonna give us what's due us. And every damn thing else on that boat. And I think maybe you gonna give me a little one-on-one time with the missus.

Jayne: Oh, I think you might wanna reconsider that last part. See, I married me a powerful ugly creature.

[The "woman" looks up — it's Mal in a dress.]

Mal: How can you say that? How can you shame me in front of new people?

Jayne: If I could make you prettier I would!

Mal: You are not the man I met a year ago!

. . .

[Mal and Jayne get the draw on the bandits.]

Mal: Now think real hard. You been bird-doggin' this township awhile now. They wouldn't mind a corpse of you. Now, you can luxuriate in a nice jail cell, but if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.

Wash: Every planet has its own weird customs. About a year before we met, I spent six weeks on a moon where the principal form of recreation was juggling geese. My hand to God. Baby geese. Goslings. They were juggled.

Mal: Whoa, hey! Flesh. Um… Saffron… i-it… it ain't a question of pleasing me. It's more a question of what's…

[Mal, breathing heavily, strains not to look at the naked woman.]

Mal: … um… of what's morally right.

Saffron: I do know my Bible, sir. "On the night of their betrothal, the wife shall open to the man as the furrow to the plow, and he shall work in her, in and again, till she bring him to his full, and rest him then upon the sweat of her breast." [N]

[Cut to Mal, who is openly staring now.]

Mal: Whoa. Good Bible.

. . .

Mal: … it's been a while — a long, damn while — since anybody but me took ahold of my plow…

. . .

[Saffron stands up from the bed and slowly approaches a stunned Mal.]

Saffron: If I'm wed, I'm a woman, and I'll take your leave to be bold. I want this. I swell to think of you in me.

[She looks down.]

Saffron: And I see that you do, too.

Mal: Oh, th-th— that's just, uh…

Saffron: Leave me at the nearest port. Never look upon me again. I'll make my way with the strength that you've taught me. Only let me have my wedding night.

[Jayne, dressed in a bulky hooded coat and goggles, keeps his head down as they walk past the workers.]

Wash: You haven't been here in years, Jayne. You really think you need that getup? No one's gonna remember you.

Mal: I think it's possible they might.

[They all look up to see an elevated, life-sized mud statue of Jayne.]

. . .

Mal: You wanna tell me how come there's a statue here, lookin' at me like I owe him something?

Jayne: Wishin' I could, cap'n.

Mal: No, seriously, Jayne, you want to tell me--?

Jayne: Look, Mal, I got no ruttin' idea. I was here a few years back, like I said. Pulled a second-story, stole a lot of scratch from the magistrate up on the hill. But things went way south. I had to hightail it. They don't... put you on a pedestal in town square for that.

Mal: Yeah, but I'm looking at some fair compelling evidence says they do.

[Simon is just staring at the statue]

Simon: This must be what going mad feels like.

. . .

Jayne: Instead of us hanging around playing art critic till I get pinched by the Man, how's about we move away from this eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?

[Inara's client, Fess Higgins, tells her about an upcoming hearing for a criminal.]

Fess: He stole a ton of money from my dad and gave it to the poor, to my father's workers. He's become kind of a folk hero in Canton.

Inara: Go on.

Fess: Well, he's back. Apparently, he landed here yesterday.

Inara: Yesterday? [to herself] Oh, no. [to Fess] I-I know this man. He's… He just has this idiotic sense of nobility, you know? He can never just let things go. He thinks he's this hard-hearted criminal, and he can be unrelenting, but… there's a side to him that's just so…

Jayne: Far as I see it, you people been given the shortest end of the stick ever been offered a human soul in this crap-heel 'verse. But you took that end, and you... [pause] Well, you took it. And that's - Well, I guess that's somethin'.

River: [smiles] Played with Kaylee. The sun came out, and… I walked on my feet, and… heard with my ears. [more raggedly] I ate the bits. The bits did stay down. And I work. I… function like I'm a girl. [sobbing] I hate it because I know it'll go away. The sun… goes dark, and chaos is come again. Bits… fluids! What am I?!

Wash: I don't want you to spare me, Mal! If you think you know what's happening, then you tell me. You wouldn't spare Zoë if she were in this situation with you, would you? You would be planning, and plotting and… possibly scheming. So, whatever Zoë would do in this instance is what I wanna do. Do you know why? No matter how ugly it gets, you two always come back… with the stories. So… I'm Zoë. Now… what do I do?

Mal: Probably not talk quite so much.

Wash: Right. Less talking. She's terse. I can be terse. Once in, uh, flight school, I was laconic.

[Jayne is on the infirmary table, temporarily paralyzed after his spill.]

Jayne: [mumbling] Is [s]pine okay?

Simon: How much did they offer you to sell out me and River on Ariel?

Jayne: [mumbling] Das crazy talk.

Simon: Then let's talk crazy. How much?

[Jayne's eyes move toward the door.]

Jayne: [mumbling] Anybody there?

[River pokes her head in.]

Jayne: [mumbling] Anybody else?

. . .

[Simon continues to work on Jayne as he talks.]

Simon: No matter what you do, or say or plot, no matter how you come down on us… I will never, ever harm you. You're on this table, you're safe. 'Cause I'm your medic, and however little we may like or trust each other, we're on the same crew. Got the same troubles, same enemies, and more than enough of both. Now, we could circle each other and growl, [or] sleep with one eye open, but that thought wearies me. I don't care what you've done, I don't know what you're planning on doing, but I'm trusting you. I think you should do the same. 'Cause I don't see this working any other way.

Tracey: Uh, okay. Uh, recording. Hi, I guess. This is a message for Zoë, and for Malcolm Reynolds. And I really hope you all are the ones listening to it. I'll spare you the boring details. I've fallen in with untrustworthy folk. Makin' a bunch of bad calls. All that matters is… I expect to be shuffled off. And you two are the only people I trust to get me where I'm going, which is home. I'd like my body to be with my folks on St. Albans. We got the family plot there, and my Mom and Dad, well, they deserve to know I died. You know, it's funny. We went to the war never lookin' to come back, but it's… it's the real world I couldn't survive. You two carried me through that war. Now I need you to carry me just a little bit further… if you can. Tell my folks I wanted to do right by them, and that I'm at peace, and all. Uh… When you can't run anymore, you crawl, and when you can't do that, well… Yeah, you know the rest. Thanks, b-both of you. Oh, yeah, and, uh… make sure my eyes is closed, will ya?

Mal: You didn't! I was just, uh… "BWAAA!" That's more like a… It's a warrior like… Strikes fear into the… hearts of… You know, not altogether wise, sneaking up on a fellow when he's handling his weapon.

Inara: I'm sure I've heard that said. But… perhaps the dining area isn't the place for this sort of thing.

Mal: What do ya mean? It's the only place with a table big enough.

Inara: Of course. In that case, every well-bred petty crook knows that the small concealable weapons always go to the far left of the place setting.

Wash: Well, I'm not sure now is the best time to bring a tiny little helpless person into our lives.

Zoë: That excuse is gettin' a little worn, honey.

Wash: It's not an excuse, dear! It's objective assessment. I can't help that it stays relevant.

Zoë: I don't give a good gorram about relevant, Wash, or objective. And I ain't so afraid of losing something that I ain't gonna try to have it. [tenderly] You and I would make one beautiful baby. And I want to meet that child one day. Period.

Ranse: Earned yourself quite a bag of silver, little kid. But I got a… few more chores in mind before you get any.

Chari: I'm ready.

[He turns to speak to his men.]

Ranse: Now, Chari here, she understands a whore's place, don't she? But Nandi, and those others, they spit on our town! They've no respect for the sanctity of fatherhood, or… decency, or family! They have my child held hostage to their decadent ways, and that I will not abide. We will show them what power is! We will show them what their position in this town is! Let us all remember, right here and now, what a woman is to a man!

Early: It strains the mind a bit don'it? but then you're all alone...maybe I come down the chimey Kaylee...bring presents to the good girls and boys...maybe not though...maybe'vah always been here.

Kaylee: Whatddayou want?

Early: [looks at engine with double meaning] That's a beating heart isn't it? Pull off any one of a thousand parts she'll just die. Such a slinder thread...[dryly, calously, viciously, lacking emotion] You ever been raped?

Kaylee: [stuttering, almost in tears, shaken] mmmuah..th-the captain is right down the hall-hallway..he...c-can...hear you...

Early: The captain is locked in his quarters. They all are. There's nobody can help you...SAY IT.

Kaylee: [breathless] There's...there's nobody can help me.

Early: I'm-el tie you up now...

Kaylee: [whimpers]

Early: And you know what-I'ma-do-then? I'ma give youa present. Get rid of a problem you've got. And I won't touch you in any wrong fashion, nor hurt you at all, unless you make some kind of ruckus. You throw a monkey wrench into my deal'ins in any way...[dryly]...your body is forfeit. Aint nothing but a body to me and I can find all unseemly manner of use for it. Do you understand.

Kaylee: [dishearted, broken, holding back tears] Yes.

Early: Turn around and put-cher hands behind yer back.

Kaylee: oh ughhhh...[moans, whimpers, begins to cry, but does as told]

Early: [From behind her as he ties her up] Now tell me Kaylee, where does River sleep?

River: I don't belong… dangerous, like you… can't be controlled, can't be trusted. Everyone can just go on without me and not have to worry. People can be what they wanted to be… can be with the people they wanted… can live simple, no secrets.

Mal: She's a reader. Sees into the truth of things. Might see trouble before it's coming. Which is of use to me.

Simon: And that's your guiding star, isn't it? What's of use.

Mal: Honestly, Doctor I think we may really crash this time anyway.

Simon: Do you understand what I've gone through to keep River away from the Alliance?

Mal: I do, and it's a fact we here have been courteous enough to keep to our own selves.

Simon: Are you threatening to—

Mal: I look out for me and mine. That don't include you less I conjure it does. Now you stuck a thorn in the Alliance's paw. That tickles me a bit. But it also means I got to step twice as fast to avoid them and that means turning down plenty of jobs. Even honest ones. Put this crew together with the promise of work which the Alliance makes harder every year. Come a day there won't be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all. This job goes south, there well may not be another… So here is us, on the raggedy edge. Don't push me, and I won't push you.

River: Run-tse duh shang-dee, ching dai-wuhtzo! [Chinese: "Merciful God, please take me away!"] Make them stop! They're everywhere! Every city, every… every house, every room - they're all inside me! I can hear them all and they're saying nothing! Get up! Please get up! Wuo-shang mayer, maysheen, byen shr-to… [Chinese: "I will close my ears, and my heart, and I will be a stone…"] Please, God, make me a stone…

Mal: This report is maybe 12-years-old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried till River dug it up. This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear because there’s a whole universe of folk who are gonna know it, too. They’re gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people. You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all come to the same place. So now I’m asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything I know this, they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, 10, they’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people . . . better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave.

Mal: It ain't all buttons and charts, little albatross. You know what the first rule of flyin' is? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I'm about to say.

River: I do. But I like to hear you say it.

Mal: Love. You can know all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta fall down… tells ya she's hurtin' 'fore she keens… makes her a home.

So I wanted to get a show that took the past and the future, and put them together by making them feel like the present…

Joss Whedon, "Here's How It Was: The Making of Firefly", Firefly DVD set, disc 4

And I wanted to say "Hi" to all the Firefy flans in— "flans"? I wanted to say "Hi" to all you Firefy flans out there. You flans are the best flans a… actor could ever hope for. Keep being a good flan!

Nathan Fillion interview at an In Good Company premiere, 28 December 2004 (IESB.net video); origin of the Firefly fan term "flan" from Fillion's slip of the tongue

So here's what I have to say about Serenity: This is the kind of movie that I have always intended Ender's Game to be (though the plots are not at all similar). And this is as good a movie as I always hoped Ender's Game would be. And I'll tell you this right now: If Ender's Game can't be this kind of movie, and this good a movie, then I want it never to be made. I'd rather just watch Serenity again.